Sponsored Content from Pavaso: Data Privacy and Working with eClosing Service Providers

With eClosings on the rise and remote online eClosings in demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, many lenders and settlement providers are eager to extend these services to their customers. There are many important factors to consider when selecting an eClosing technology service provider. Cost, ease of use, and timelines for adoption and implementation are all common considerations. Another factor that may not be top of mind – but merits careful consideration – is the way a vendor manages your customers’ data. Not all vendors are the same. A vendor that may sell consumer data could cause issues with your customers.

Consumer Expectations

Most consumers value their privacy and expect businesses to keep their information confidential. While the practice of selling their data may be permitted with the proper consent, many consumers are shocked and alarmed to learn their data may have been sold. That’s because the practices some companies use to gain consent lack transparency – and many privacy scholars find them to be misleading.

Many consumers mistakenly believe the existence of a privacy policy means their data cannot be shared with others without their permission. As a result, some consumers do not read them. For those who do, disclosure language is often so broad or buried that it can appear the vendor is simply requesting permission to use the consumer’s information to process their transaction. In reality, that language may permit them to sell data. And because most companies require consumers to accept their terms of use before they can access services, consumers have little choice but to consent.

Consumer data is often collected by vendors and used internally for things like minimizing the number of times customers are asked to answer the same questions. It can also be used to honor their communication preferences throughout the transaction. However, companies whose privacy policies permit them to sell data to third parties often sell it to data brokers and miners. Those entities, in turn, sell that data and the insights it reveals about consumer behaviors to others interested in developing more effective marketing strategies.

Considerations for Providers

When it comes to informed consent and selling data, lenders and settlement providers should be mindful of the potential gap between consumer perception and reality, and its ability to erode trust in your business because of what your vendor is doing. Your eClosing technology service provider is an extension of the closing services you provide. Aligning your operation with a vendor that sells consumer data could feel like a betrayal to customers who look to you for guidance during a process that many find confusing and stressful. Working with a vendor that does not sell data means you can check this concern off your list. It could also provide additional benefits you may not have considered.

Letting your customers know that your eClosing technology service provider keeps their data private and uses encryption technology to keep it secure could give them more peace of mind about exploring a hybrid or fully digital closing for the first time. The same is true for remote online notarization (RON) closings, which present the safest alternative possible during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Choosing a vendor that does not sell data can also demonstrate that you operate with integrity and care about your customers beyond the transaction. That decision could help differentiate your organization from the competition and translate into better customer retention than companies who work with vendors willing to put short-term profit over ethical business practices.

Why Work with Pavaso?

Pavaso is a leading provider of digital real estate closing technology that never sells consumer data. Our innovative eClosing platform was designed with a singular purpose: making the real estate closing experience better for everyone involved.

At Pavaso, we have a proven record of supporting settlement providers and their customers in all 50 states. Our secure, collaborative eClosing platform streamlines the entire closing process by uniting all stakeholders in a digital environment that promotes transparency, efficiency, consumer education and communication. The result? Easy, convenient, fast closings. Every time.

Pavaso offers a true, full-service eClosing platform that can perform a completely paperless eClosing in as little as 15 minutes. It also gives closing agents the ability to support hybrid and traditional closings, with both in-person eNotary (IPEN) and remote online notarization (RON) solutions (where permissible). Lenders and settlement providers also have the autonomy to utilize their own state-commissioned eNotaries or existing notary network. 

When you work with Pavaso, you get a best-in-class eClosing technology service provider that is committed to elevating the customer experience and protecting the privacy of all homebuyers and sellers, even after their transaction ends. That value can be leveraged to enhance your brand, attract new business and build lasting relationships with your customers.

(Sponsored content includes material submitted independently of the Mortgage Bankers Association and MBA NewsLink and does not connote an MBA endorsement of a specific company, product or service. For more information about sponsored content opportunities, contact Bill Farmakis at bill@jlfarmakis.com or 203/834-8832.)